Retaining-wall tie.



n. s. LUTENL RETMNING WALL TlE APPLICATION FILED IULY 21.1918.

1378,8-64. fatenwdsepn- 10, 1918;

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DANIEL n. LUTEN, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

" nE'rAININe-WALL TIE.

'Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

Application led July 27, 1918. Serial 150.247,03.

To all whom #may concern: g

' 'Be it knownthat- I,'I)AI-IIELl B. LUTE'N, a 4

I 4citizen of the United States, .residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, h'ave inventedV a new and useful Retaining-Wall Tie, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a protect d reinforcing anchorage for a fill-retaini wall; and especially to provide a protected cross connection between two walls which hold aA fill between them,

such as the two side walls ofva bridge.

It has heretofore kbeen proposed to connect the spandrel or other side walls of a bridge by tension 'rods extending through the fill, and to embed such tension rods in concrete to protect them. In practice, however, this thas been found to be open to serious' obtofbreak and thereby to allow the walls to jection, because of the distortion of the tensionrods by the settlement of the till, which distortion has not only increased the. strain on the tension rods but has caused cracking ofthe -protecting'embedding' concrete and has thereby admitted water which has corroded the tension rods and caused them fail.

4In order to prevent this distortion, it has been proposed -to make the` embedding concrete for these tension rods sufficiently massive so that it forms a. beam which resists flexure.. This is also open' to objection. If

' .the beam thus formed is so located' that the tension rods are.4 in the bottom thereof, they bending of the beam, though slight, induces greater tension in the tension rods, and

' thereby requires more tension rods to be provided. On theother hand, if the beam is so located that the tension rods are in the top thereof, not 'only must additional tension rods be provided in lthe bottom of such beam in order to' resist. the bending thereof, but in addition compression stresses are set up in the top thereof in opposition to the tension in the rods embedded. in such top, andas tension actually exists in these4 top rods the stresses in the top of the beam are reversed from compression to tension and. additional stresses are thrown .on the addiv tional rods which are embedded in the bottom of the beam;V thus either requiring an unduly large number of tension rods m the bottom of the-beam or else resulting in a .breaking of the: bottom tension' rods and a failure oftheb'eam.. ,In addition, the beam not in beams and are simply embedded'in the fill.

By my present invent-ion I provide a solution which is free fromthese objections; which gives between the side wails-or between any fill-retainingvwall and an anchorage, whether or not the anchorage be another wall-a tension connection requiring a minimum amount i of reinforcements; which entirely avoids the ,bendingv stresses on the tension'rods and gives such rods etlicient protection against corrosion; and which avoids the formation of any cross ridges in the paving. j

The accompanying drawing invention. nal section through an arch bridge in which the spandrel Walls are interconnected in accordance with my invention, being taken substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig 2; and Fig. 2 is a transverse' sect-ion through such bridge, taken substantially o n the line- 2-2 illustrates my z of Fig. 1.

Figure 1 is a partial longitudi-v not limited to that type of bridge, or, in-

deed, to .any .typeof bridge, for it applies to any two walls with a fill between them, and even to a single fill-.retaining wall. In this bridge as shown there is the arch 10 on the axial ends of which are the upstanding spandrel walls 11 surmounted by railings 12. The arch carries the usual fill 13 between the spandrel walls 11, which are side walls to retain such till; and on top of the fill may be any 'usual paving 14.

The spandrel walls 11 are interconnected by tension .rods 15 which extend from one spandrel wall to the other. These tension coating may be used,or a protective coating maybe omitted. In order to protect the tension rods I5 and their protective coatings 16 (if any) frombending stresses. I provide 'separate load-carrying 'members 17 lrods are preferably embedded in a coating. 16 of concrete; though any other protective over 'them but spaced from them, which these load-carrying members 17 arch-shaped.

as is clear from Fig. l, and to make them all concrete #but their shape and thematerial of The of the till above them but because they are spaced vfrom the tension rods with their respective coatings 16 they do not transmit this load to such tension rods, and thus "keep the tension rods free from bending stresses. In erecting the striiicture, I build the arch 1() with its spandrels and railing in the usual manner., A and provide the interconnecting tension rods 1,5 between the spandrels. Then as the fill is put in to the level of each tension rod, I leave a trough in the fill beneath such tension rod, and fill the trough and cover the rod with concrete, to protect the rod. `Then I place' the load-supporting member 17 over the rod 15 and its protecting coating. I may construct this loadsupporting member in place, or may build it separately and put it bodily into its position.' In either case, the sides of the tension rod, and is spaced from the tension rod and its protecting coating to leave a free space 1S. Then I complete the iill in the usual manner, covering the load-Supporting member 17.

By this construction, the tension rods 15 and their,protecting coatings 1G are eiciently guarded against bending stresses from' the superadjacent till, so that there is no tendency to bend them and thus no tendency to crack the protecting coatings This results in efficient protection against corrosion of the `tension rods. In addition, as the tension rods 15 have no other stresses than the tension stresses pro .duced by the tendency to push apart the spandrel walls 11, they may be made of minimum size and number. Moreover, as thev members 17 settle with the fill, no cross ridges appear in the paving 11i,

I claim as 4my invention:

1. In combination with an arch and spandrel walls and a fill von the arch between the spandrel walls, terconnecting the spandrel walls through the ill, and. a load-carrying member over the tension member and spaced therefrom to keep the weight of the till 'of'the tension member.

2. In combination with an arch and spandrel walls and a fill on the'arch between the spandrel walls, of a tension rod embedded in concrete and interconnecting the spann drel walls through the fill, and a load-carry ing member over said tension rod and its embedding concrete and spaced therefrom to keep the load of the fill oit" said tension rodand its embedding concrete.

In combination with an arch and spanit rests on the fill atv of atension memberv indrei walls and a fill onthe atch between the span-drei walls, of a tension member interconnecting the spandrel walls through the ill, and an arch over said tension member and spaced therefrom and extending from one spandrel wall to the other through the fill to take the load of the superjacent till and keep it ofi said tension men'iber,y

l. In combination with two walls with a fill between them, of a tension member interconnecting the two walls through the fill, and a load-carryingmember over the tension member and spaced` theref1.'om to keep the weight of the iill ofi'.z the tension member.

5.*In combination with two walls with a till between them, of a tension rod embedded. in concrete and interconnecting the, two walls through the till, and a load-carrying member over said tension rod and its embedding` concrete and spaced therefrom to keep the load of the ill offv said tension rod and its embedding concrete.

6. In combination with two walls with a till betweenthem, of a tension member interconnecting the 'two walls throughthe till', and an arch over said tension' member and spaced therefrom and extendingfrom' yone wall to the other through4 the fili totake the load of the superjacent ill and keep it oil' said tension membei; l

7. In combination witha tillretaini'ngwall with its fill behind it, 'offavt'ension rod connected to said wall and er 'ending'therefrom into the fill to an ancioiage, and a load-carrying member overtthe' tension member and spaced therefrom to keep the weight of the fillofl the tension member.

8. In combination with a {ill-retaining wall with its fill behind it, of a tension rodl embedded in concrete and extending from said fill-retaining wall intothe fill to an anchorage, and a load-carrying member over said 'tension rod and its enibedding concrete and spaced therefrom to keep the load ofthe till off said tension vrod and its embedding concrete.

' 9. In con'ibiiiation with ya [ill-retaining wall with its illbehind it, of a tension rod connected to said wall and extending therefrom into the till toan anchorage, and an arch over said tension member andv spacedr therefrom and extending from said filtretaining wall to said anchorage through the ill to take the load of the superjacent fill and keep it ofi' said tension member,

In wit-ness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 24th day of July, A. D'. one thousand'nine hundred and eighteen.

` DANIEL B. LUTEN. 

